Our stay in Sorrento was wonderful. The first morning we woke up and decided to go to Pompeii. We had a great set of roommates, and Pat and Brad gave us tips for getting into and around Pompeii, since they had been there only a couple days earlier. Heading out from the hostel, we went looking for food first. Sorrento has an amazing market street, and before we knew it, much more time had gone by than intended. But we did have a bag of excellent fruit to show for it. I also may have sunglasses and a linen scarf now. I am very happy with them though!
Finally we got ourselves back on the circumvesuvianna and made our way to Pompeii. The boys had told us it can take hours to go through it, but I wasn't quite prepared for its size still. Jen and I were there for four hours before we knew it! I particularly liked how there were signs up explaining what you were seeing or what it meant for the culture. Especially since we are to cheap to buy audio-guides and usually just fumble our way through sites. We had a great time, even if it took us awhile to find the body casts, since we started from the wrong direction.
Once we had our fill of Pompeii, we headed towards Naples to get our train station to Palermo. It had been such an issue while in Rome that we thought it was best to plan ahead. But this time there were no such issues and we had a night train booked before we knew it.
The next morning, we took it easy and just explored the local area. The rest of our room had invited us to Capri with them, but we just couldn't justify the 35€ cost of the ferry. Instead we wandered the shopping areas, walked down to the beach, and took a lot of pictures. For the afternoon we went back to the hostel, which is really a hotel and has an outdoor pool, and decided to sit around. Well, for those of you who know me, this only lasted so long. After an hour or two, I was off to explore again. I found another beach access, and bought beer to sit and watch the sunset.
When I got back to the hostel, everyone else was just arriving from Capri. So we joined them sitting outside and talking most of the night. It was so much fun! We had Shelli from the states, Mark from NZ, Elie, Brad, and Pat from Australia, and Phil from Vancouver BC. It was a great time! Phil and Mark were leaving the next day, but the rest of us made plans to rent scooters the next day and head to the Amalfi coast. Several of them had done it a couple days earlier and said it was amazing.
Bright and early, we all headed out. First to the grocery store to buy something for lunch, and then to the scooter rental. Jen didn't feel comfortable trying to drive one, but I was really excited to do this. Elie and Pat took me out for a couple minutes to get a feel first, before trying to take Jen as a passenger. But as soon as Jen got on we knew it wasn't going to work. I just didn't have enough experience. So Elie offered to take Jen on his bike and we were off again!
Elie had been out a couple times, and had scoped out some good places. So we went view point hopping, eating lunch along the way. We found our way to Possitano, with the intent of finding a beach to lay on. Here is where the misfortunes began. Pat got a little too close to a car while parking and hit it, not with his bike, but with his knee. His knee unfortunately left a rather large dent, I just saw the car move. He had to go give the bikes information, and get everything squared away. Then, after moving his bike to a better spot, we headed to the beach. We all went swimming and lay out for a bit, before deciding to head on to Amalfi. We ultimately wanted to hit a cove that we had to hike in to, but didn't know if we would have enough time in the day.
Once we got back up to the bikes, we realized an unfortunate thing. Pat's bike wouldn't start now. After trying for 45 minutes to get ahold of the rental company who would not answer their phones, we had to leave Pat and Brad behind. They were going to ride back together to Sorrento and tell them where they left the bike. Our troop had shrunk to four. But onward we went, enthusiastically for the next town.
When we got to Amalfi, we quickly realized that there was not going to be enough time to go to the cove. I had to return my bike by 8 that evening so I could catch our night train. So we spent some time on the Amalfi beach too. ate some gelato, and went out on the break water. Elie's shoulder was starting to hurt from having a passenger too, so we found Jen the bus back to Sorrento, and the group shrunk again.
Shelli, Elie, and I were racing back to a particular location he had found for the sunset. By this point I was feeling pretty comfortable, and was cruising around pretty easily. Still not on par with the other two who ride dirt bikes and motorcycles, but I could keep pace with them. We made it just in time too. What a stunning sunset! The isle of Capri was dead ahead with the sun setting just to the side. Elie and Shelli found a point nearby where they were going to try and go first thing in the morning.
Then we had to finish our trip back to Sorrento. As we pulled up to the rental shop to drop off my scooter, Jen walked up, having just been dropped off by the bus. She was heading to the port to take pictures of the boats all lit up, but I headed back to the hostel and grabbed some food on the way. After a quick but delicious meal, we grabbed our packs, said our goodbyes, and headed for Napoli Centrale.
Our night train was an interesting one. We had two cabin mates, and they couldn't have been any more different. Victoria was laid back and wonderful. From Palermo herself, she gave me her email in case we had any questions after we arrived. The other gal was a piece of work. I saw her as we first got on the train, talking VERY loudly on her phone, and thought "I feel bad for whoever shares a room with her." Well, JINX, she was in our room! She must have booked last minute, because her bed wasn't set up. So instead of going and finding the conductor, she plops herself down on my bed, and strikes up another phone call. Then invites a friend in to sit and chat on my bed. Did I mention we didn't even board the train until midnight? Things were getting ridiculous. Victoria finally went and got someone to set up the bed. But the other gal stayed sitting on mine before finally realizing I was in my pajamas and asking, "Oh, did you want to go to bed now?" Uh no. It's only nearing one in the morning. So she finally goes up to her bunk. But she had taken as many plugs as she needed in the room for all her devices, which means there wasn't even one left for me. So I unplugged one of her devices and charged mine instead. I needed my ipod for directions to our hostel, and wasn't about to be playing that game. I replugged hers back in before she woke up, and I doubt she even noticed.
The next morning she made a big deal waking up. Her phone had been ringing since 5, and she'd almost kicked me in the face twice swinging her legs down over the edge. Then she decided, instead of going to the bathroom, just to the side, to change in our tiny cabin. This meant she shoved her butt straight into Jen's and my faces, before patting it and making sure it looked good in her jeans. I have to say though, I was not at all surprised by the giant tramp stamp she sported. Then she was asking me for my water, and taking up most my space again, because she didn't want to sit up on her bunk. After primping herself up, she proceeded to pose and take pictures of herself for 5-10 minutes, with and without sunglasses, in varying ways. I'm pretty sure I must have had the same look of dumbfounded disbelief that I saw Jen portraying. She also sprayed two different types of perfume on herself, in this small room and we had to open all the doors immediately afterward. And it wasn't just one squirt, it was 10 of each. Makes me feel better about how I occasionally use two sprays! Needless to say, I was not sad to see her go.
Once Jen and I had found our hostel, we had to decide what to do. We wandered to a couple different restaurants before finding something that looked good. I have never had the problem in an Italian restaurant before, of walking in and not recognizing a single thing on the menu. It was crazy! And I was afraid to blindly order, as seafood was so prominent here. As were intestine kabobs, and spleen sandwiches. Definitely the first time I have felt at a loss for food in Italy, and I am very excited to hit Firenze for food now.
After killing half the day, we took a train to Cefalu. We definitely didn't get enough time here, but we did enjoy wandering through the city as much as we could. And we found a fantastic bakery. The owner was the nicest guy. Spoke no english, but we cobbled something together. If you are there, I highly recommend going to Pietro Serio. What a wonderful place! The cannolis were delicious too.
When we got back to the hostel, Miguel, another person staying there, wanted to cook pasta for everyone if we wanted. It was delicious! The hostel manager popped out the spumonte, and got me a local beer to try. Everyone was very nice, and they gave us tips for the next day too, as we wanted to go to the Valle dei Templi in Agrigento. Some of the best preserved Greek ruins outside of Greece, and since we didn't make it there, I figured this was next best.
First thing in the morning though, we headed to the local flea market that occurs every Sunday morning. While I found nothing that I would be able to carry home, it was fun to look around. Then we tried to get ourselves south. But the train we wanted to take wasn't running, so we had to try for the bus. That turned in to a whole other hoopla, as we couldn't find the bus company that made that route. Finally, after asking multiple people, we found the schedule, and to kill time waiting for the bus, had some gelato.
Finally we got boarded, and headed for Agrigento. Turns out we got really lucky. As soon as we got in, we walked into the one place that was open to sell tickets to the ruins, and got our round trip tickets. We directed someone else there afterward, but they had already closed. Jen and I had barely made it in time to get our transfers. So off we went to the ruins, which were more expensive than we had been told, but after spending the full day getting there we weren't backing out.
They were pretty amazing too. I couple in disrepair from earthquakes, but the Temple of Concordia was impressively intact. We wandered around in the heat, before we were too tired and headed back. This time we were able to catch the train. Unfortunately, Jen broke it. She thought she was hitting a button to flush the toilet, but instead, an alarm sounded, that they couldn't turn off for about 15-20 minutes. Everyone on the train was looking around, trying to figure out what was going on. Poor Jen's been having issues with things breaking on her. Ask her about them, they are some good stories, though hers to tell.
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